Robots Ticker

German auto firm, EDAG, made a stir at this year’s Geneva Motor Show with a fully 3D printed auto body called Genesis. EDAG aids major carmakers in design and production, and they’re no stranger to the 11-day Geneva Motor Show. EDAG thinks additive manufacturing has the power to improve the entire carmaking process from design to production—and Genesis is meant to embody that potential. EDAG expects additive processes and associated automation technologies to bump productivity 100 to 1000 times in the next couple decades.

Rethinking the components used in advanced prototypes such as Atlas to reduce cost and power consumption has become a major focus in robotics research as engineers seek to finally have these machines escape the lab, says Rich Mahoney, SRI’s director of robotics. “We got things that are overdesigned because there’s not been impetus for low cost and good design,” he says.

Several low-cost robotic hands recently emerged from another DARPA program called ARM-H. By achieving greater complexity at lower costs, these hands could help Baxter or Unbounded’s robots perform new tasks. Roomba manufacturer iRobot worked with Harvard and Yale to create a three-fingered hand that can do anything from holding a basketball to picking up a key lying flat on a table.

If it were made in quantities of a few thousand, the hand should cost around $3,000, says Mark Claffee, principal robotics engineer at iRobot, which also makes military and telepresence robots. “It’s a dramatic change,” Claffee says, as the current going rate for a robotic hand with similar capabilities starts at around $35,000.

RobotChallenge is an international championship for self-made, autonomous, and mobile robots. It takes place annually in Vienna, Austria. Since 2004, more than 1,500 robots from all over the world have taken part in the competition

The popularity of hobby robotics and the maker movement is soaring, inspiring innovations in micro manufacturing and sparking creativity in DIYers worldwide.
For me, it all began when I built my son a toy robot for his 4th birthday. I crafted it from a piece of Snapware, an Arduino and other odds and ends, and made it controllable over the Internet. I proudly presented it to my son, who, a short time later, asked if I could build him one that poops.
Spurred by the challenge, a need to fulfill my child’s expectations, and my own (apparently passed-down) fascination with poop, I went to work and built him one. And now I want to teach you how to build one as well.
In this panel you will learn how to get started with Arduino, how to program your ‘bot using HTML, CSS & Javascript, and how to use Breakout.js and Node.js to tie it all together. You'll also discover some great resources to keep you inspired and learn about some exciting new technologies on the horizon.

Our mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.

Foxconn, the Chinese electronics manufacturer that builds numerous mobile devices and gaming consoles, has been in the media lately because of labor issues, complaints over working conditions, rumored riots, and even suicides, all occurring in the past few years as demand for smartphones and tablets is skyrocketing.

While consumers began to complain in response to media coverage over working conditions, prompting Apple to hire an audit of the factories, Foxconn’s President Terry Gou had another idea for dealing with labor concerns: replace people with robots. In fact, last year Gou said that the company would be aiming to replace 1 million Foxconn workers with robots within 3 years.

It appears as if Gou has started the ball in motion. Since the announcement, a first batch of 10,000 robots — aptly named Foxbots — appear to have made its way into at least one factory, and by the end of 2012, another 20,000 more will be installed.